Citation

Keatley E, dʼAlfonso A, Abeare CA, Keller A, Bertelsen NS. J. Head Trauma Rehabil. 2015; 30(6): E1-8.

Affiliation

Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Ms Keatley and Dr Abeare); and New York University School of Medicine, New York City (Ms d'Alfonso and Drs Keller and Bertelsen).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/HTR.0000000000000103

PMID

25629258

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:: To compare spontaneous reporting of health complaints in a sample of refugee survivors of torture with a history of moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) with survivors of torture without TBI and analyze the contribution of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms to health outcomes. PARTICIPANTS:: Treatment-seeking refugee survivors of torture with a moderate/severe TBI (n = 85) and a control group (n = 72) of survivors who suffered a physical injury during their persecution but had no history of a head injury. MEASURES:: Health outcomes included a self-report of general physical health (scale 1-5), number of medical visits, and a scaled score of the number of health complaints. The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) was used to measure posttraumatic stress disorder.

RESULTS:: Moderate/severe TBI was associated with more health complaints but not higher HTQ scores. TBI and HTQ scores are independently associated with a greater number of health complaints, and an interaction between TBI and HTQ scores suggests that the relationship between moderate/severe TBI and the number of health complaints strengthened with increased posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity.

CONCLUSIONS:: Health complaints may be a common expression of psychological trauma, and service providers should be certain to explore both medical and psychological contributors when assessing refugee survivors of torture.

Language: en